


Are you okay? 'Cause I feel fine.

by tatch



Series: Shades of Red [1]
Category: DCU, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Brotherly Love, Dick's bad temper, Jason drops hints EVERYWHERE, Jason kicks ass, Red Hood - Freeform, References to Red Hood and the Outlaws, Roy has a ridiculous taste when it comes to caps, The Author Regrets Nothing, The author wants a season 3, mostly Dick's POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 10:44:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4703141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatch/pseuds/tatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somebody attacks the Mount Justice base on a hot summer day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Are you okay? 'Cause I feel fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the song 'I'm not alright' - Shinedown  
> The author would like to point out that english is not the author's main language and that there may be errors and badly spelt stuff within this fic.  
> This is the first part of my 'Let's write lots of AU'd Jasons and have lots of fun while doing so' series.  
> Also, I'm considering maybe writing other stuff for a possible (let's keep hoping people) AU young justice s3 (maybe. I'm not sure yet.)
> 
> EDIT: The author is working on it. It's coming. Brace yourselves.

It had been a slow day. No villain had tried anything in a few days, school had been over about a week prior and the heat was killing them all. After the Mount Justice base had been rebuilt (same as it had been before the explosion), the Team had split in two, members rotating between the mountain and the Watchtower, depending on who was needed where and when. Kaldur'ahm stayed at the Tower and Dick took charge of the ground team.

Dick sighed and stretched. He should probably hit the showers before Bart decided he wanted one. For someone moving so fast, the speedster had a way of using up all the hot water every time he showered. And Dick, regardless of temperature or weather, loved steamy hot showers. One of his few pleasures.

So Dick checked the comms, external and internal security of the base one last time. Nothing new on the comms (Some chatter from Captain Marvel as usual, the man always blabbered about everything and nothing), a few birds and a stray dog roaming around, the dog owner calling after his dog on the external security feed.

He switched to internal, a yawn fighting its way out. M'gann and Connor had fallen asleep in front of the TV, curled around each other. Apparently the pair had managed to talk whatever it was that had driven them apart out and seemed pretty happy once again. Dick smiled. At least that was one couple that seemed healthy and 'going well'. Which reminded him of Artemis. She'd said she needed time and had gone solo after Wally's death. She still gave reports every once in a while but Dick hoped she wouldn't go all 'Roy' on them and burn herself out. He shook his head and sighed. There wasn't much they could do about it anyway.

Speaking of Roy, Red Arrow, Bart and Cassie were in Bart's room playing ... poker? Red-Roy state of mind had been steadily improving since he had found the 'original' Roy and freed him, but he still came in every once in a while to, either spend time with the team or help with whatever mission was up at the given time. Kaldur said that maybe Roy was trying to ... attone? for what-who he was. Dick thought that it was probably more for reassurance. Roy needed to be reminded that he belonged, that despite being a clone, he was their friend, that he was one of them (Not that the archer would ever admit it). Like Artemis, Roy had taken some distance with the team too, making time for Cheshire and their daughter Li'an, but he still came to Mount Justice on a semi-regular basis. Dick chuckled as Cassie settled herself more comfortably and hid a yawn behind her hand. Yeah the heat was hard on them all.

Dick toggled around the different feeds once again. Every one was accounted for, everything was quiet and peaceful. Yet something nagged at the back of his mind. He frowned and searched the feeds for whatever was bothering him. Comms, check. Perimeter, check. Sleeping couple, check. Poker playing trio, check. He stopped there, his frown deepening. Cassie had fallen asleep on her back, one of her arms thrown back. Roy seemed relaxed, which was unusual but not worrying, and kept throwing sugary stuff at Bart, who evaded most of it.

_There._

Bart's eyes were fluttering and he was yawning. Dick felt a shudder roll down his spine. Speedsters didn't yawn. They burned bright and high and fast until they crashed somewhere, asleep before they'd touched ground.

This was _wrong._

He felt his own yawn come back with a vengeance, followed by a wave of tiredness.

Shit shit _shit._

Dick fumbled with his belt and managed to put his breathing mask on, fighting the unnatural sleepiness. Then he heard a noise behind him.

_Close._

Dick threw his elbow back, followed closely by a high kick, but his movements were sluggish and uncoordinated. He was countered on both and managed to see a silhouette wearing a red hoodie before an armored gauntlet met his temple and he blacked-out.

 

* * *

 

Dick came to progressively. His blood was pounding in his ears and his head hurt like hell. Something was humming rythmically close by. His hands were tied behind his back, his ankles (and his knees ?) bound too. He tested his bounds as subtly as possible, trying to wriggle or break out of them. Yeah, that was not happening any time soon. Whoever had bound him had done a thorough and good job.

_Damn._

Dick cracked an eye open. A spike of pain pierced his brain as light made contact with his pupil. He managed to stiffle his groan and looked around. There was someone fiddling with the cave's computer but that seemed to be all. Dick shuffled to get a better view of his captor. The man was tall, taller than him, and exuded a quiet kind of restrained violence. He was wearing a red hoodie on top of what seemed to be combat armor (kevlar and reinforced mesh probably). A leather jacket on top of the hoodie, military grade combat pants, a pair of knee-high armored boots and two holsters, each hoisting a gun, which hung to the man's hips. The guns made Dick stop for a second before he continued his assessment. The lower part of what was either a mask or a helmet could be seen from under the hoodie's hood, which was propped up on the man's head. Except for the hoodie and the mask (helmet?) which were both very red, everything the villain was wearing was either grey or black. Dick noticed that the humming sound he'd been hearing since the beginning was actually the hooded guy... humming? The melody seemed familiar but Dick couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.

Dick had apparently been more conspicuous than he thought because the man strolled toward him less than a minute after Dick's shuffling. The hood guy then crouched in front of him.

"You up, birdboy?"

Dick glared at him. It earned him a chuckle. The hood was chuckling at him? _Chuckling?_ The man grabbed him by the shoulder and brought him closer to the computer. Dick prepared himself for whatever the hood had in store for him, but the villain simply threw him where he could keep an eye on him. The hoodie's hood fell back onto his shoulders, revealing a sleek red helmet. The hood resumed whatever he had been doing with the computer. Dick could see maps and blueprints being pulled out, but couldn't make out or recognize them all. He did recognize one though: The Arkham Asylum. Which could only mean bad news.

Dick frowned. The hood wasn't acting like a typical villain, he wasn't ranting or being delusional, he wasn't making threats nor ultimatums. It made him far less predictable and much much more dangerous. Dick's frown deepened. He needed more information.

"Who are you?" Dick growled, pulling out his best Batman impression. The hood actually laughed at that.

_Laughed._

The hood turned slightly toward Dick, tilting his head to the side.

"Pulling off a Batman? Nice." The hood's voice sounded metallic and distorted. The man was using a voice distorter.

"What do you want?" Dick snapped back.

"Does it matter?" the hood shrugged. A bleeping sound came from the computer. The man in red huffed, sounding annoyed. Dick smirked.

"Something not working the way you want?" The hood ignored him, reaching for the side of his helmet.

"Arsenal, this is Red Hood. Come in. ... Come on Roy, I know you're there."

Dick's eyes widened. The hood, Red Hood, knew Arsenal? And not just Roy's persona, he knew his real name too? Surprised, Dick almost missed the blinking light on the lower half of the computer screen, indicating that Batman was doing a silent check-in. And when Bruce would fail to get an answer, he would consider the base to be under attack and would send a rescue team.

_Perfect._

Except then, as if reading Dick's thoughts, the Red Hood turned back to the computer, his fingers hovering for a second over the keys before entering the check-in code. The blinking light turned blue, accepting the code and then disappeared. Hood resumed trying to reach Arsenal, sounding irritated.

"Harper, pull your fingers out of your ass and answer me already!"

Meanwhile, Dick's mind was trying to piece things together. This... Red Hood knew things he shouldn't have known. He knew about security protocols, codes, names, hell he probably knew the layout of Mount Justice's base itself. But there was worse. The silent check-in was a thing Bruce only did when he was sure either Dick, Tim or Barbara were on monitor duty. They were the only ones to know the codes. Well, at least they were supposed to be the only ones. It looked like someone leaked intel. Or _worse._ The Red Hood was good, no, better than good. He was efficient, focused, rational... Everything villains were not. He felt more...

"You're a mercenary." Dick deadpanned, his insides turning cold.

"More or less, yeah." The Red Hood shrugged a shoulder in a dismissing motion. Dick sucked a breath in. Dealing with mercenaries was both easier and far more complicated. Most were motivated by money and therefore, easy to stir away. But some had their own agendas and were an entirely different breed. As different as attack dogs and wolves. Dick crossed his fingers and hoped.

"Whatever they're paying you for this... It's not worth it." Dick baited.

That seemed to get the Hood's attention. The red helmet turned fully towards Dick, and the man came closer, crouching back in front of the vigilante.

"Let's imagine for a second, just for the sake of this argument, that I'm listening to you. What do you suggest I should do then?" The Hood waved a hand back and forth while speaking.

"Free me and leave."

Of course, Dick had no intention of letting the Hood leave that easily. There were just too many things that needed answering, starting with the Red Hood identity. The Red Hood got even closer, looming so close that Dick could see his own reflection in the scarlet helmet. The mercenary seemed to be gauging whether Dick was telling the truth or not. He then chuckled and moved back to the computer in one fluid motion.

"You've gotten better at lying, Nightwing." The Hood cocked his head to the side. "Too bad I'm not in it for money, hey?

_Shit._

As Dick gritted his teeth and racked his brain trying to both form a plan and remember where he could have met the man before, the Hood muttered a _'Finally'_ and put his hand back to the side of his helmet.

"You back, princess?"  _(Been busy tryin' not to get shot by the Triad, thanks for asking.)_

There was a moment of silence which was probably filled with Roy's answer, but Dick couldn't hear it.

"What the fuck are you doin' there?"

_... (I'm taking care of the mess you left the last time you came.)_

"Spare me the details."

_... (They're after me because you can't keep your nose out of things, Jay. They've been after my ass ever since I stepped out of the damn plane. All. Because. Of. You.)_

"Yeah yeah, I know. I'm an ass."  _(That's an understatement. What do you want Red?)_ The Hood chuckled.

"Right to business, hey? I need your help with something."

_... (Please tell me this isn't what I think it is *groan*)_

"Okay. This isn't what you think it is."

_... (You literally just said that because I told you to do so, didn't you?)_

"Yeah." Another chuckle.

_... (So. What do you need?)_

"The access codes for the criminal records."

 _... (Wait. You're_ **IN** _the base already?)_

"Pretty sure I can answer yes to that."

_... (Fucker. Just... restore my zeta tube access and I'll come in.)_

"What, you don't trust me with those codes? You're breaking my heart, Harper."

_... (Shut up, Jay.)_

Yet _another_ chuckle.

All that chuckling was seriously starting to grate on Dick's nerves. He tried to get rid of his restraints once again but they had no give at all.

"Okay okay, workin' on it." The Red Hood entered a few code lines on the computer then tapped the side of his helmet again.

"Done." The mercenary then turned toward the zeta tubes. There was a moment of silence then one of the tubes lit up.

[Recognized - Arsenal B25]

Arsenal, the 'original' Roy Harper, stepped in. One of his shoulder was fuming and he had multiple light cuts all over his arms and sides. A deeper cut ran across his left cheek. Arsenal's hair had grown since the last time Dick had seen him and now almost reached his shoulders. Well, would have reached his shoulders if not for the lazy ponytail it was caught in. Roy also now sported a light stubble that couldn't have been more than a few days old. He was wearing casual (civilian) clothing: a black t-shirt underneath a battered brown leather jacket, a pair of dark blue jeans and military boots to complete the outfit. A duffel bag containing Roy's things was hanging from his shoulders and the collar of Arsenal's uniform showed around the hem of his tee. But there was something far more shocking about Roy's clothing. Dick blinked a few times, unwilling to believe his eyes.

"Is that... a Disney cap?" The Hood's voice sounded as disbelieving as Dick felt. "Hang on... Isn't that the archer chick from that one with all the bears?

And yes it was.

"What. It's a hot red-head archer. On a cap. Couldn't have not taken it." The Hood huffed.

"If you say so, Harper. I'm still not convinced." Roy waved a hand in a deflecting gesture, while coming closer.

"See it that way, Red. People see the cap, people remember the cap. They don't remember the guy wearing it."

That was... very thought through, for someone as brash as Arsenal. The Hood hummed and nodded once in agreement. Roy strolled closer and pointed a finger at the Red Hood's chest, suddenly looking pissed.

"But seriously Red? Ninjas? How the fucking hell did you manage to piss off ninjas? Fucking ninjas?!" he said waving his arms in big gestures.

"Well there was this chick..."

"A girl! Of course there was a girl! No wait. Actually, I don't wanna know. Just... next time, you piss off a criminal organization in a country I visit regularly? At least give me a heads up."

"I'll try to remember that."

"And you're gonna owe me **big time**. For the codes AND for the ninjas."

"Wouldn't have dreamed it any different." Red Hood chuckled.

Roy nodded then seemed to notice Dick and turned toward him.

"Nightwing." Arsenal nodded once in Dick's direction, looking him in the eye. Dick narrowed his eyes, glaring at the red-head.

"Arsenal." The tone was cold. Roy shrugged and turned back to the Hood.

"You mind?" He said, pointing at the computer behind the mercenary. The man took a step to the side but before Roy could start typing, the Hood pointed at his cheek.

"That's gonna need stitches." Roy's cheek had started bleeding abondantly.

"Fuck it."

The Red Hood moved toward the interior of the base.

"Still left after the trophy room?" the mercenary asked while leaving.

"Yeah." Roy was feeling a bit light headed, dropped his duffel next to him, and sat in front of the computer, too far for Dick to grab. The ex-member of the Team took his cap off and moved a hand through his hair looking tired, then proceeded to vent himself with that ridiculous cap. Dick shuffled to turn toward Roy.

"If you cross that line, there's no coming back. You'll be hunted down by the League and considered a criminal. You know that." Roy sighed and held his cap in front of him, looking it over with tired eyes.

"I know, 'wing."

"And still you're doing it. Why?" Dick racked his brain, trying to-

"He saved my life. I owe him. It's as simple as that."

Life debts were a serious matter, even more within the mercenaries world. Arsenal turned his gaze to Dick, eyes sharp all of a sudden.

"And I know exactly what the intel Red's taking will be used for. No surprises."

Just as Dick opened his mouth to ask what the Hood had planned exactly, Red's distorted voice chimed in.

"Hey princess, got your medicine."

Roy turned to Red, a smirk on his lips and a brow raised.

"Princess. Really?"

"What? Our actual princess is not here, now is she? Therefore, since you are the only other red-head in this room, you've been appointed princess for the day." Red said with grand gestures and a mocking tone.

"Red. You do remember that my hand is also a laser right?" Roy vaguely waved the prosthesis, which was currently holding a ridiculous Disney cap, toward the mercenary. Both men looked at the cap for a second. Then Arsenal got back up, screwed the cap back onto his head and started typing.

"Back to business then." The Red Hood opened the medikit and fished a needle, medical thread and some bandages and proceeded to stitch the cut on Roy's cheek close. Roy winced and muttered something about bows, guns and where he was going to shove them if Red didn't _'finish already, I'm not made of glass'_ but kept typing all the while.

After a few more unsuccessful tries, Dick had abandoned the idea of getting rid of his bindings, and decided to absorb as much information as he could about the Hood and his relationship with Arsenal. The two seemed pretty close and casual with each other. They'd said something about a princess, bringing the number of people in a possible team they'd be in up to 3 so far. The Hood was apparently used to stitching Arsenal back up and was pretty good at it, despite Roy's bitching (and how much Roy hated docs and had systematically refused to let anyone take care of his wounds back when he'd been part of the Team). Roy bitched and grumbled but was letting the mercenary close-by with a potential weapon. The Red Hood had left Roy alone with Nightwing, apparently trusting that the red-head wouldn't free the vigilante. There was a deep trust between those two. Roy may have said that 'he only owed the Red Hood his life' but there was something more. Something Dick couldn't quite put his finger on yet.

The computer beeped once, opening the criminal records.

"You got a way to copy those?"

"Yeah yeah, don't worry 'bout it."

Roy shrugged and took a step away for the keyboard.

"Your problem Red."

The Hood huffed and took out something that looked like a modified PDA. He fiddled with it a bit and faces moved on the base's computer. Members of the Gotham mafia. Informants. Cops. All from Gotham. Black Mask. The Riddler. Strange. Clayface. Freeze. Again, all from Gotham. Whatever the Red Hood had planned it was gonna go down in Gotham City. Dick tensed. That was bad. Not just the fact that the upcoming event/attack was Gotham-located but that combination of vilains? Nothing good could come out of such a 'team'.

The Hood pocketed the PDA and moved into the spot Roy had freed just before. He taped a few commands in then turned to look at one of the screens. It now displayed the internal security feeds. Dick could see the members of the Team all still blissfully asleep. A knot of worry unclenched itself in Dick's chest. At least, nobody had been hurt. The Hood had truly only come to gather intel. Roy grabbed the duffel and waved at Nightwing with one hand, while searching the duffel for something with the other one.

"What about Nightwing?"

The mercenary turned and looked at Dick, tilting his head to the side.

"What. Maybe you want me to kiss him to sleep... or something?"

Arsenal got a transparent gas mask out of the bag and onto his face, then shrugged.

"Who knows? You could have gotten a liking to him... or something."

The Hood chuckled. Both men moved toward the zeta-tubes. Dick could feel the sleepiness creeping back. The Red Hood had put enough sleeping gas in the ventilation system to put them all to sleep, if the rate at which Dick felt his consciousness slipping away was any indication. He fought the dizziness with a rapidly declining strength.

"As if. He's such a dick."

"If he is a dick, you're a jerk."

A chuckle.

"Good one."

Roy's laugh.

"Whatever."

The light of the tube opening a portal.

[Recognized - Arsenal B25]

"We should do this more often, 'wing."

Sarcasm.

[Recognized - Ro...

Nothing but darkness.

 

* * *

 

Convincing Batman to let the Team in Gotham had been... complicated and exhausting, but Dick had managed to do it. Tim was currently reviewing the security footage at the base, while Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl, Bart and M'gann were in Meg's ship, floating over Arkham Asylum, about to go down and secure the perimeter. Aqualad, Red Arrow, Superboy and the rest of the Team had launched themselves into a hunt to find and bring Arsenal in. Some of the Leaguers were also helping in the hunt but a situation had arisen in Asia and most of them were busy dealing with whatever was happening over there. Batman had alerted Commissioner Gordon of the threat of a possible attack against the Asylum. Gordon was sending GCPD reinforcements to secure the concerned inmates. B also asked for Joker to be subjected to the same treatment, 'just in case'. The cops had yet to arrive but Dick could hear the sirens approaching. The Riddler, Strange, Clayface and Freeze were all accounted for and secured inside their respective cells. Black Mask had gone missing about a week ago, along with a significant percentage of the 'normal' criminals. It was worrying but the crime lord had made it a habit to disappear every time something was going wrong around 'his turf'. As for the other criminals, the disappearance of their 'leader' had probably drove them into hiding.

Probably. If they were lucky. If they weren't-

Dick heard Tim curse over the comms.

"That son of a- N, the tube access he used..."

"Tell me."

"It was Jason's. He hijacked Jason's identification to tube out."

Dick gritted his teeth, his anger suddenly flaring back in. He could tell from his spot that both Babs and B were feeling just as angry as he was. M'gann and Bart exchanged a worried look. If the Bats were loosing their collective legendary cool, who was going to lead them?  _Right._ Dick breathed deeply, once, twice, getting a grip on himself.

"Keep digging Robin. Anything you can find."

"Of course. Robin out."

The GCPD vans finally arrived, pouring a flow of cops out, some carrying riot shields, some rifles, some equipped with breathing masks and tactical googles, all armed with standard issue guns and rubber bullets. And rubber bullets only. Meg's ship landed on the helicopter pad and Batman went to share intel and coordinate the protection with the Commissioner. M'gann and Bart stayed outside ready to intercept and capture the Hood the moment he would step on Arkham's ground. The rest of the task force moved into the Asylum, snipers keeping an eye out from the towers but the exterior looked no more protected that it usually was (It wouldn't do to scare the mercenary away before they had a chance to get their hands on him.). A team of eight patrolled the room containing most of the cells, both Batman and Batgirl staying in that room too, as it held a central position within the building. The Joker had been put in solitary, deep underground. A team of four, accompanied by Nightwing, were keeping an eye on the madman, who had been heavily sedated for the occasion. Those left were patrolling corridors or were posted at strategic exit points. Everybody was reporting in every fifteen minutes, the teams assigned directly to the cells every ten minutes. Everybody reported once, twice and Dick prepared for a long night. He decided to check on Tim and put some distance between him and the four cops he was sharing the room with, signaling to them that he needed to check in with his team. One of the cop nodded in assent, and they all moved to fill in the void Nightwing's check-in was momentarily creating.

"Robin, this is Nightwing. Come in."

"I'm here, N. What is it?"

"Tell me what you found."

Tim sighed, sounding both annoyed and tired.

"I still haven't found how he got in. I've got footage of him up to some point but then he just.. vanishes in a blind spot. I'm gonna go check the place later. As for the intel..."

"R."

"Nothing differs from what you saw him take and what he actually took from the criminal records. Now the rest..." Tim sighed again."Maps and blueprints for the Arkham Asylum, the GCPD building, the docks, the Iceberg Lounge and... the Wayne Tower. He also took the layout of both the sewers and the metro tunnels."

"Okay." That was... a lot. "Anything else about the footage?"

"You said he was... humming when you woke up right?"

"Yes."

"I've checked the rhymes and the melody and... it's a song about robins?"

"The birds?"

"Yes. I'm not sure... why he was singing it, but he didn't stop singing then humming it until he noticed you were awake."

Dick opened his mouth to answer that he had no idea either but then he heard a thud, a groan and the sound of something slipping on the ground. He turned back and barely had time to counter the foot coming fast to his face. His assaillant danced back a bit. It was one of the cops that had followed N down to the confinement cells. But the height and the bulk...

"You disguised as a cop. Clever." The other cops were in a heap on the ground, unconscious.

The Hood chuckled but said nothing else. In his ear, Dick could hear Tim catching on his situation and calling B and Babs to Nightwing's location, then giving him their ETA. Three minutes. Dick would have to stall for three minutes. The Hood launched at him, _fast_. Dick countered his blows but wasn't finding any opening in the Red Hood's technique that would let him place a blow. Until...there! Dick threw a quick jab that sent the Hood's fake (or stolen) cop helmet flying, revealing short black hair with a streak of white on the right side. No wonder the man wore a full helmet with such recognisable hair. Dick still couldn't see the mercenary's face as the man had been one of those to wear both a breathing mask and tactical goggles (in case of yet _another_ gas attack).

"What, cat got your tongue?" Nightwing mocked. The Hood huffed in response but still said nothing. Dick frowned. From what he had observed during their previous encounter, the man was obviously a talker, all witty remarks and snarky comments. Then why wasn't he saying anything? The mercenary reached into his pocket and pulled out a detonator. Nightwing froze instantly.

"Don't do that."

The Hood pulled the trigger.

Dick heard an explosion far from where he was. Where- All lights went out. All doors went into lockdown. The generators. 15 seconds until the emergency generators kicked in. Something hit Dick in the ribs, hard and he doubled over, breath kicked out of his lungs. The tactical goggles. Of course. As the generators kicked in, he barely had time to see the knee approaching his face in a vicious move before it hit him. Nightwing staggered back, temporarily blinded and felt a hand grab the back of his head. He reached, trying to break the hold but another hand twisted his arm behind his back. The Hood slammed Nightwing's head into the wall, once, twice, three times before letting go of the vigilante. Dick sort of felt himself slipping to the ground, his head swimming, heavy with a ringing noise and darkness creeping at the edges of his vision. Dick saw Red Hood take the Joker out of his cell and put him on his shoulder? Maybe? Everything was so blurry. Or maybe it was one of the cops? Thinking was hard. Thinking hurt. As darkness claimed him once again, Dick's last clear thought was that he was getting seriously tired of passing out because of that guy.

 

* * *

 

Dick came to to M'gann's face, hovering over him as he could hear Batman's and Gordon's(?) concerned voices not far. The ceiling was that of the underground cells. They were still in the Asylum then. It couldn't have been more than half an hour or else Babs or Bruce would have brought Dick back to the Cave and checked him for head injuries, regardless of the current situation. Dick tried to get back up and wavered. M'gann's arm shot to steady him and he leaned a bit, smiling an apology and mouthing a silent 'thank you' to her. She shook her head, rolling her eyes but he could see a small smile on her lips.

"Easy there." She whispered. Dick bit back a groan, as he felt the onset of what promised to be a monstrous headache pulse behind his eyes.

"How long was I-"

"About 20min, no more."

He nodded slowly.

"Did we-"

"No. He was gone before we arrived. Vanished."

"Fuck." Dick felt anger rise once more in him, though this time it was followed closely by tiredness. He closed his eyes for a minute, breathing deeply a few times to ground himself. When he finally opened them back, B was in front of them, eyeing Dick carefully.

"I'm fine." Nightwing said. Batman showed no sign of having heard or not, but Dick knew that his mentor would have benched him-would bench him at the first sign of unhealthiness. He amended his previous statement "I'll be fine in a minute. Already feeling better." This time, B nodded once and handed over what looked to be a turned-off phone and a small note that read _"For the dick."_ The writing was messy, scrawled carelessly and probably in a haste. Dick fought an urge to strangle someone. That guy was seriously grating on his nerves. The phone was a standard tactile phone with both a camera lens on the back and one on the front. No keypad and there was some sort of fingerprint reader on the back. Which was definitely something that _wasn't_ usually on phones. Dick looked over at B, a silent question on his face. Batman shook his head in answer.

_Great._

Only one thing to do then. Nightwing pulled one of his gloves off and pressed his thumb against the reader's pad. Apparently it did the trick because the phone lit up. Dick narrowed his eyes and at the corner of his eye he could see B's narrowing too. How had the Red Hood gotten his fingerprints? All members of the Bat-family had their fingerprints, dental records, anything that could lead to them or 'help' unmask them wiped by Bruce when they started out the vigilante life. And Bruce was nothing if not extremely thorough. Unless the Hood had taken them during his 'break-in' at the base? Which was possible (he'd have to ask Tim) but still left little time to pull the phone thing off. Either Red Hood was incredibly lucky and talented OR had planned all of this down to the smallest details. Dick wasn't sure which one frightened him most. In his hands, the phone finished booting and was showing a black screen, no menus, no pictures, nothing at all. Dick frowned. All that for... this? It made no sense- Then he noticed the loading icon (dark grey on a black screen, _seriously?_ ) and the phone launched a call to someone referenced as 'the jerk'. It ringed for a handful of seconds then turned into a video call. And of course it was the Red Hood, helmet and hoodie on, probably leaning over his own phone.

"Finally. You sure took your time, dick-face." The background was unrecognizable, made exclusively of unmarked cardboard. No walls, no windows, no furniture of any kind that could have clued them in on the mercenary's location.

"What do you want." Dick said, keeping his voice flat, even though anger was swirling in dark waves in his chest.

"Yeah riiight. So I can't actually hear you, as this is a one-way thing so let's start already." The feed seemed live as it sometimes jumped a few frames, something that didn't usually happen with recordings. And also considering that the Hood could apparently see Nightwing. "Here's the deal: Find me and I'll give you the Joker back, in whatever state he'll be in by then. Fail or don't meet the time limit and he's dead. You've got 20min." The feed cut abruptly as the Hood leaned in and took something long and metallic (a pipe or something of the kind) next to the camera/phone and a timer started. 20min to find Red Hood and save the Joker. Not that any of them really wanted to save the maniac but still.

_Shit._

Most of the Team was at least an hour out, still searching for Arsenal. No reinforcement from the League either, as they were in Asia. The feed had been too short to even try to pinpoint Red Hood's location. It left them with the actual on-site members: M'gann, Bart, Babs, Bruce and Dick himself, and only what they already knew. The Hood had taken some blueprints and maps at the Base. May as well start with those. The Asylum and the GCPD building could easily be searched within the time limit by the cops presents in both location (Batman was already asking the commissioner for his cooperation). The sewers and metro tunnels would be tricky but the combined powers of Miss Martian and Kid Flash should cover that ground (Dick gave them the order and they left). Bruce would be able to check the Wayne Tower faster than anyone else, for obvious reasons (And he didn't need to ask to know that that was what his mentor intended to do _anyway_ ). Which left Dick with the docks and the Iceberg Lounge. He looked at Barbara.

"Docks or Lounge?"

"I'll take the Lounge. You've been around the docks more." Which was true. Sometimes criminals from Blüdhaven crossed the bay for various reasons and Dick had to chase them all around Gotham's docks. He had become quite familiar with the place. They nodded to each other and Barbara left. Dick glanced at B one last time and the older man acknowledged Nightwing's silent request with a simple nod. Dick pocketed the phone and took his leave, heading for the docks. It would take him a solid 10min to get there, even at the hurried pace he was currently going at. It would left him with another 10min to find and subdue the mercenary. Some part of Dick, dark and buried deep inside him, didn't want to save the crazy homicidal maniac. It wanted to let the Hood kill the Joker. To know that Jason had been avenged. To know that none of them would ever have to worry about that crazy son of a bitch _ever_ again. But Dick ignored that dark twisted part of himself, burying it in a corner of his mind and carried on. He may not want to save the man but it didn't mean he wouldn't _try_ with everything he had.

Dick finally arrived at the docks. None of the warehouses was obviously lit or occupied nor was there any evident sign of anyone coming or being around. No cars, no broken doors, no blaring alarms. Not that Dick actually expected anything of the kind but it would have made his search so much _simpler_. Like a nice gesture or something. But it hadn’t seem to be the Hood’s MO anyway, so Nightwing started searching warehouse by warehouse, focusing on the few sounds that emanated from some of them. He hoped that the mercenary wasn’t locked in a container because there was no way Dick would ever be able to check all of those in time. Most of the warehouses had glass ceilings which made his search easier. He did discover a drug for weapons deal going on in one of them (too bad he had no time for that right now, but he’d come back later) and was moving to the next one when he received a call from Conner.

"Make it quick, Superboy."

Conner probably heard the urgency and strain in his tone (and well, to be honest, Dick had almost snapped at the half-kryptonian. The night’s tension was wearing Dick’s patience _thin_.) because he asked nothing and simply said, in a hushed tone.

"I found Arsenal.” _Finally_ some good news.

"Where.” Nothing in this one either, Dick moved to the next warehouse. He’d almost reached the middle of the seemingly mile-long row of buildings.

"Coast City. Some apartment. I’ve called the others in, they’ll be here any minute now.” Dick heard the rush of wind in the background and hushed voices approaching through the communicator. “Talk about the devil.” Conner whispered. Dick heard them but he was far more concerned with what he had right under his nose. It seemed like he’d found the Hood. The mercenary was in the center of an abandoned warehouse (if the roting and covered in mold, at best, scattered around boxes were any indication), the Joker was hands and feets tied to a chair that had fallen to the ground. The mercenary had a crowbar in one hand and was beating the crap out of the vilain, in a rather violent and angry way. Nightwing _almost_ busted through the ceiling’s window right then but something caught his attention.

_Mines._

Red Hood had trapped the ceiling with, as the red barely visible beams connecting each of device, motion activated mines. And a lot of them. Dick studied the grid formed by the beams for a second and realized it was way too tight for him to pass through. Well, unless he wished to be blown to bits _of course._ As he headed for the back door, Dick had the distant thought that the Red Hood was a bit too good. It couldn’t be his first job. And yet, none of them had even heard of him before. No, not _even_ Batman. It was like… he’d just appeared out of nowhere some day and decided to make Dick’s day as shitty as possible. Distantly, he heard the ‘hunting’ team work out a plan to corner and apprehend Roy. The archer was a resourceful person who was more than used to fighting while being disadvantaged, in both number and strength. They’d have to be careful.

Dick checked the countdown on the phone. He still had a good 4min before it ended. He notified the others and Tim but knew that they were all too far out to make it to his location in time. Dick then entered the warehouse carefully, phone back to his belt, after checking the door for more traps. There may have been a distinct lack of traps outside the door but on the inside the Hood had indulged in what Dick started to suspect was a _fetish_ for explosive devices. The short corridor he had to use to get to the warehouse main room was literally covered in motion activated mines.

_Fuck._

But unlike the ceiling's ones those mines were not placed half as regularly or as tightly, making the laser grid far less even. Dick calculated the trajectory. If he jumped there and bounced on that wall... He cut his comm-link entirely. He was going to need _all his focus_ for this. He jumped, rolled, twisted and bounced through the minefield, reaching the other side without a hitch, his breathing a bit fast. Good thing he had been the one to come here. M'gann may have been able to reach the other side by flying or phasing inside the main room directly, but Dick was pretty sure none of the others were acrobatic enough to pass through without setting any of the explosives off. It was as if the 'route' had been calculated with Nightwing's talents in mind. Dick frowned but he had no time to linger on that thought right now. He checked the next door but apparently the mercenary had left all doors mine free. Entering the main room, Dick realized two things: first, the rest of the room was explosive-free (either the Hood had deemed it unsafe or had been confident that nobody would get this far) and second, Dick had apparently not been quite as silent as he thought he'd been because the Red Hood was turned toward him, a gun resting on Joker's temple. The maniac had both eyes closed, one swollen shut. His breathing seemed painful and a sickening bubbly hissy sound could be heard in each breath.

"Well. You found me." There was an amused edge in the Hood's voice.

"Are you gonna keep your end of the bargain." Dick's voice was flat.

At this distance, if the mercenary decided to shoot his _'victim'_ there would be nothing Dick could do to stop him. He needed to reduce the distance between the three of them. Dick walked slowly closer to the room's center, where both men were. Surprisingly, Red Hood did not threaten Nightwing in any way, keeping his gun trained on Joker instead.

"Or are you just a dirty liar?" Dick straight-out dared. The Hood laughed, cocking his head to the side. His whole body was relaxed. It made Nightwing uneasy. Something was _wrong_. Very very wrong. But there were no threats, _nothing_ that could hurt the vigilante in any way, apart from the hooded man who was now less than fifteen feet away but seemed unwilling to hurt anyone but the maniac lying on his side at his feet.

"Oh officer, I surrender!" The Hood teased, ending his sentence on a chuckle. Dick gritted his teeth. The chuckle seemed to wake Joker up because he cracked an eye open and seeing Nightwing, started cackling hysterically. Between giggles and long painful-looking hiss for air, the madman gasped and whined things like _'Oh birdboy, you shouldn't have' 'What a day' 'This is a party' 'But we're still missing the guest of honor_ '. Then suddenly, something beeped in both the Red Hood's and Nightwing's belt.

"Looks like you're out of time." The mercenary stated, his tone dead serious once more. He took the safety of his gun off. Dick lunged, trying to tackle Red before the man put a permanent end to the Joker's cackling.

Except he didn't touch him. He touched nothing at all. Dick had passed right trough the Red Hood as if-as if the man was _not even there_. The mad cackle redoubled and the Hood waved at himself.

"Hologram." Dick's blood ran cold in his veins, a pit of dread settling in his stomach. For some reason, the Hood's voice was soft, almost gentle as he said his next sentence.

"You failed." And he reported his attention to Joker who was now struggling for breath, his giggling having finally receded. Both men seemed suddenly uninterested in Nightwing, ignoring him, as though the vigilante had ceased to exist. As if he wasn't there at all. Which, to be fair, was not totally untrue.

"You and me, kid. _You and me_." The Joker smiled, far less maniacally, something quiet, almost... _intimate_ settling on his face.

"Shut **up**." The Hood flat out growled in answer. And then he pulled the trigger, exploding the clown's forehead. Dick knew he was in shock but he couldn't take his eyes of off the almost perfectly round hole that pierced the now-former vilain head. He heard Red Hood hum thoughtfully and the gun that had relaxed back to the mercenary's thigh trained back to the Joker's head and the Hood suddenly emptied his clip there, effectly reducing the clown's head to mush. It snapped Dick right out of shock. The Hood stepped away from the corpse, apparently satisfied, and plain and simply disappeared, having stepped out of the hologram's camera range. The Joker's body stayed on the ground for another handful of second then the transmission was cut off altogether, leaving Dick alone in an empty warehouse.

The Joker was dead. Dick didn't want to believe it and he wouldn't believe it until he had the clown's body right there, identified and certified to be that of the madmen.

Nightwing turned his communicator back on and was assaulted by stressed voices and shouting.

"What's going on?" He urged, pushing what had just happened out his mind and focusing on the now. Aqualad's voice answered.

"Roy had some sort of invisible ship on the roof of his building. He just got in and-" Dick heard what sounded like heavy pounding in the distance. "His ship appears to be equipped with forcefields. We cannot get to him-" Then a piercing sound and Dick's comm-link cracked with what sounded like thunder.

"Aqualad? Kaldur!"

"Yes, yes I am here, my friend." Kaldur's voice sounded a bit dazed. There were no more sound coming from the background.

"What happened?"

"It's- I think Arsenal just teleported away. It was- I am sorry, Nightwing. It seems like he has escaped."

The lights in the warehouse suddenly turned off and Dick crouched, tense and ready for... anything really. He was past the point of surprise at this point. But the lights simply turned back on after a few seconds. Except now they were emitting black light. And the light uncovered a message on the wall. A set of coordinates and an address. Dick radio-ed Batman and Batgirl and got out of the warehouse. The mines had all deactivated while he was inside, which made his exit far easier than the entry had been. Dick had had enough. He was more than ready to be done with this. He was so _done_ with all this mess.

 

 

* * *

 

The coordinates led them to an abandoned warehouse on the other side of the city. Tim informed them that this warehouse and the other had been built by the same company, following the same blueprints. The Hood had played them all along. The twin layouts had been used to facilitate the hologram installation, making it look more real. Babs headed for the exit. Batman nodded to Nightwing and they entered the building silently. Apart from the dead body in the room, the warehouse, unlike the one on the docks, was bare.

"Clear."

"I'll see if I can find a trail here." Batgirl answered.

B went for the Joker's body, his lips pressed tight in an unhappy line.

The only other thing was a rotting three-legged table on the far end of the room, with cardboard nailed to the wall behind it. Dick approached it carefully, in case the Red Hood had set another set of mines around. There seemed to be no such thing and he reached the decaying piece of furniture without a hitch. On the table, there were a few hairs, (Just in case they belonged to the Hood, Nightwing put them in a bag for later analysis) a crowbar, slowly dripping blood on the table (was that a teeth-), and a folded-in-two piece of paper on top of which a video camera rested. Dick took the camera in one hand, unfolding the piece of paper with the other one. A message had been scrawled messily on the paper.

"This is farewell. Also, you may want to watch this alone. With your favorite bats and birds."

On the cameras files, there was only one file, which was named "Hey". Simply hey. Nothing else. Nightwing gritted his teeth. As if he was going to follow _another_ of the Hood's hints. He played start.

The file opened after a second of loading, showing the Hood. The mercenary was wearing the same clothes he had been wearing when he'd attacked the Mount Justice base. The hoodie wasn't propped on his shoulders but he was wearing the red helmet. The man was bent forward, everything above his shoulders disappearing over the upper side of the frame, as he probably started the recording. He sat back and waved a hand.

"Hey, dick. Oh and I'm not insulting you, in case you're wondering. I just know that's your name. Your real na-

Nightwing slammed the camera shut so fast and with such strength that he heard the screen _shatter._ He was shaking. In a daze, he noticed Barbara gently taking the camera from his hands and Bruce leading him-them away, radio-ing the Team to tell them to go back to base. The journey back home-to the Cave was barely more than a blur.

Somebody knew who Nightwing was. Somebody who wasn't another vigilante. Someone who was a criminal, a murderer. Suddenly, Dick wanted nothing more than to crawl in his bed and disappear. Let the sheets swallow him and strangle him in his sleep. Someone else could deal with the world. He was done with it. Dick looked at his hands and closed his hands into fists, his knuckles turning white. Except he couldn't. There were people counting on him. People who trusted him. To lead them, to save them, to keep themselves and others safe. He closed his eyes for a second and let a deep sigh out. He then looked up and only then noticed that they were already at the Cave and had probably been for a few minutes. Bruce was starting the DNA analysis of the hair they'd found in the warehouse. Tim (wasn't he supposed to be at the Team's base? B probably called him back as soon as they'd been on their way.) had connected the camera to the Batcomputer and was checking it for any malware, virus or trojan the Hood could have hidden. Barbara was coming back to the car, her face a careful mask of blankness but Dick could see the worry in her posture, the slight slouch and hurry in her pace. He got up and out of the car, walking toward the computer. He needed to _know._ Whatever the message was, he needed to _see_ it. To _confirm._ Bruce put a hand on his shoulder, giving his support to his son in his usual way.

"We will catch him." Dick nodded. He couldn't speak, not now. Bruce seemed to understand and guided him to the computer's chair.

"Sit." B ordered and Dick sat, his body moving on auto-pilot. B nodded toward Tim and the video started playing again.

The Red Hood sitting back and waving a hand.

"Hey, Dick. Oh and I'm not insulting you, in case you're wondering. I just know that's your name. Your real name." Then he stopped speaking, tilted his head to the side then chuckled." Well if **THAT** hasn't had you isolating yourself, or going back to watch this privately, I don't know what will. So-" and the mercenary pointed a hand to the camera " from now on, I'll be considering that you're alone... or, you know, alone with bats and birds." Red chuckled again and muttered something that sounded like 'good one' before starting again. He sounded very serious again. "If everything goes as planned, the Joker is now dead and I have escaped you guys. Hopefully." He shook his head. "So I guess I owe you an explanation. Or at least, I _feel_ like I should give you the beginning of one. I mean, I plan on beating the hell out of him with a crowbar... no, with **THE** crowbar **HE** used to beat the crap out of **ME** and then, I will look that son of bitch right in the eye and shoot him. Hell, I'll empty my clip into that bastard's brain if that's what it takes." The Hood's voice was shaking with anger and he had bowed his head, probably staring at his hands, which were digging into his thighs in a grip that looked _painful._

Tim and Barbara exchanged a look. Well **THAT** explained why the Red Hood had gone after Joker.

In a sudden move, Red bowed back and looked to the side, his hands unclenching. "Well that's what I got planned anyway. Things may go a bit differently but that's the gist of it." The man took a shaky breath then sighed deeply. He rubbed a hand over his neck and looked back at the camera. "But I'm talking, I'm talking and I'm sure you haven't heard a word I said, have you?" Dick blinked. He had been listening to the words but was scrutinizing the background for clues on the Hood's location. On the screen, the Hood shook his head again. "Can't blame you. I'd be doing the same in your stead. So lemme get it out of your mind." He waved a hand, gesturing at the room. "I'm in Tokyo right now. There's this girl, daughter of one of the Triad bosses, who's been doing some veeery naughty things so I thought I'd come by and say hi. Oh and by that, I mean I shot her. And got the kids to safety. Anyway. This is her private penthouse. I fully intend to blow it sky-high when I leave so it shouldn't be too hard to find, right?" The mercenary sat back crossing his arms over his chest. "Let's get back to it, shall we? If you haven't caught me, that means you got no idea who I am. If you'd known, you would have got me. Will. Would. Whatever." He waved a hand in a dismissing motion. "Guess I should tell you, huh. Better, I'll show you." The Red Hood lifted both hands to his helmet, pushing parts or buttons that were out of view. There was a whoosh of air and a few clicks as the helmet unlocked. The mercenary lifted it and for a second, the helmet was between the camera and the Hood's now bare face. Then he lowered it.

Dick was up so fast the chair clattered on the ground, his eyes wide and wild. Babs gaped and gasped soundlessly a few times, her eyes just as widened as Dick's. Bruce's reaction was more subtle but for those who knew him, it said a lot about just how thrown off the older man was. After widening his eyes in disbelief for a second, he grabbed the chair Dick had sent flying and sat in it, his face perfectly blank but pain showing in his eyes. Tim looked at them all, uncertain and frowned, looking back at the screen. The man on the screen looked young. He had short black hair with a white streak, blue-green eyes and a sheepish smile.

"You probably didn't see that one coming, hey, Dickiebird?" The man said, passing a hand in his hair.

Tim turned back to his brother, who muttered a strangled, breathless but filled with so much emotion _'Jay?'_ that it was almost a keen. Tim's eyebrows shot to his hairline. Jay? Jason? The Jason? The previous Robin? The one who had died at the hand of the Joker -apparently beaten to death with a crowbar- blown along with the warehouse he'd been locked in. Tim had read the file on Jason's death but they'd never known what had happened exactly, because Jason's body had been too... damaged by the explosion but there had been signs. On the screen, the man-Jason hummed thoughtfully as he put the helmet somewhere down out of view.

"Man, I wish I could see your face." He smirked. "I can only imagine. Must be quite the surprise, huh. I mean, you guys have been thinking I was dead all this time, right? Roy told me you erected some sort of holographic statue of me down by the docks, in the base? Well, before it blew up. Anyway." Jay hunched a bit, not looking at the camera. "You must have like, a billion questions, hey. I can't imagine them all and IF I was there to hear them, I probably wouldn't answer them anyway." The smile turned _sharp,_ all jagged edges and teeth, anger and something that ran deeper, _colder_ for a second before getting sheepish again. "Let's get a few obvious ones out of the way. One: Yeah, I did die. Hurt like a motherfucker." Jason was raising fingers for each point he was stating.

" Two: How I came back to life? Remember Ra's? Turns out dude has this sorta fountain of eternal life or something. Oh, and apparently that thing-they call it the Pit- can resurrect the dead too. Crazy, huh. Three: Man, forget what I said about how dying hurts. Coming back was far **FAR** _worse._ Four: Hmmm-Why will I-did I kill the Joker? Now here's a good one. So the Pit brought me back to life, you see. But it didn't bring me back quite... right. I **HAVE TO** kill him. Or at least _try._ That... stuff in my head. It's driving me crazy. I _need_ to do it. I need to at least try."

Jason approached his face until it occupied most of the screen. "Hey Golden Boy, you listen to me okay? You didn't save that bastard and that's fine. It's not on you that that son of a bitch is dead. It's on me. I am the one who put a bullet in that maniac's head. _Me._ Not you. Don't go and blame yourself for things you can't control okay?" Jay shook his head, looking annoyed. "You probably will anyway, 'cause you're an idiot." Dick made a breathy sound and Tim turned to look at him. Dick was crying, tears rolling down silently but he also had a shaky smile on his face. Dick never smiled much, wasn't emotional at all actually, but Timothy was starting to get the impression that things had been different... _before._ The younger man's gaze went back to the screen, his own heart clenching with restrained emotion.

On the screen, Jason was opening his mouth to say something else but he suddenly tensed and got up, a gun in each hand. He left the frame and there was a moment of silence, then a gunfight, a lot of swearing in _chinese_ and the sound of people getting hurt. It lasted no more than a minute then everything was silent once again. Jason came back into the frame and sat back, a brow raised.

"Didn't thought they'd come so soon..." He shook his head. "What was I saying?" He opened his mouth to start again but instead snapped his head to the side, raising a gun lightning fast. Annoyance flashed on his face and he shot something that was off-screen. But the sound it made left no doubt that it was-had been a person. Jason narrowed his eyes, gritting his teeth and muttering "Will you let me finish this, you little _shits."_ After another minute of silent glaring, Jay seemed to relax again. Dick relaxed at the same time, though he had not noticed tensing during the fight. The change was impressive. In a few seconds, Jason went from full-on combat mode, willing to shoot anything-everything that would cross his path to a sheepish teenager that looked barely older than the one Dick remembered. Jay blinked at the camera a few times then _smiled._ And boy, did it lit up his face. Dick heard Bruce inhale sharply behind him. Yeah, they both remembered that smile.

"Ah yes, right! So. I take it you're probably gonna try and find me." Jason shook his head. "Don't bother. I don't plan on sticking around and..." He looked uncertain. "I'm not sure I'll ever come back. I don't-" His face contorted with contradictory emotions. "I just don't know 'kay?" Jay's head snapped to the side again, brows furrowing, annoyance creeping back on his face. "Fuckers." He got up, grabbed the camera and uttered a hushed "Bye, Dick." before cutting the recording.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Dick was openly crying but seemed calmer. Barbara left the Cave without a word, taking one of the bikes and disappearing into the night. Bruce got back up, changed a few settings on the DNA scanner, setting it for a simple comparison and moved back up to the manor, taking a shovel as he went, face tight, body tense, his eyes fierce. Tim started leaving, to try and get some sleep. It had been a long day and an even longer night and he was exhausted. Physically and _emotionally._ He glanced a last time at Dick. His brother had rewinded the recording and stopped it on Jason's smiling face. The knot in Tim's chest clenched even tighter at the emotions on his brother-his oldest brother's face. Hope, sadness, love, melancholy, distress, happiness.

Too much yet too little.

_This-_

It changed so _many_ things and yet it changed nothing _at all_.

Tim left, leaving the former Robin alone with ghosts and shadows.

 

 

* * *

 

"You okay Jay?"

Roy's voice echoed through the ship.Jason kept on looking at the planet spinning slowly beneath them. Somewhere down there, the Bats-the closest thing he had ever had to a family was learning the truth. Bruce was probably doubtful of it all (good thing Jason had remembered to leave just enough DNA for a test. A last minute remembrance truly.), Dick was most certainly balling his eyes out (though his predecessor had seemed more closed off and easier to anger than Jason remembered him to be...) and Babs... well he wasn't sure about Barbara. Hadn't known her long enough to gauge her reaction to something like this. As for the new Robin... Jason didn't really want to think about him. The kid might be good, maybe even great but Jason wanted nothing to do with him. Not yet, anyway. Maybe someday, but not now.

"Jay? _Red?"_

Roy's voice sounded closer this time. Jason felt like he should be feeling... bad, tainted and disgusted with himself. Except he wasn't. The mad cackle that had been echoing in his head ever since he'd woken up in the Pit. The burning sensation of his skin every time he woke up. The sickening light of the Pit behind his eyelids when he closed his eyes. The unnatural anger that had been consuming everything in him. They were gone. He felt good. He felt clean. He felt-

"Are _you_ okay Roy? 'Cause I feel fine."

Roy eyed him for a second. Jay smiled quietly at the red-head who in a few months had become his best friend. Who had understood his desire-his _need_ for revenge and chose to help him despite the consequences. Roy answered with a lazy smile of his own and nodded, turning heels.

"Let's go then."

**Author's Note:**

> There is at least one hidden message within this fic. Did you see it?  
> Thanks alot to my wonderful beta reader who made this fic grow like twice the size it was supposed to be originally :v


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